Laurent Alekno is a young Russian volleyball player, who at 21 years old has already achieved great achievements in sports and is striving for even larger-scale victories. His father - Vladimir Romanovich Alekno - is the honored coach of Russia in volleyball.
Biography
Volleyball player Laurent Alekno was born on September 18, 1996. He got his unusual name thanks to a Frenchman named Laurent, in the team with which his father, Vladimir Alekno, played. The surname Alekno went to Laurent from her father, whose mother was Belarusian, and his father was Lithuanian. Until 10 years, Laurent lived in Paris with his mother and sister, and his father worked as a trainer in Russia. At the age of 11, Laurent visited Russia for the first time and lived for two years with his family in Moscow, but his sister got married and stayed to live in Paris. Laurent himself says that getting used to and adapting to Russia was not easy. First of all, due to the cold Russian climate, as well as Laurent, there were problems with pronunciation and spelling. After 2 years of living in Moscow, due to the work of his father, Vladimir Alekno, the Laurent family moved to Kazan.
Now Laurent Alekno lives in Russia, separately from her parents in a rented apartment. However, he admits that on weekends he likes to stay with his parents and try his mother’s home-made food. Photos of Laurent Alekno can be found on the Internet. With his outward features, he looks more like a mother than a father. In his spare time, the young volleyball player prefers to spend in the company of friends or at home in order to get enough sleep and gain more strength for training. Laurent also likes to study foreign languages. Today he knows four languages: Russian, French, English and Spanish. Laurent admits that, in spite of the fact that football is the most popular sport in France, he is completely indifferent to it.
The decision to become a volleyball player
Volleyball Laurent Alekno began to get involved only when he moved from France to Russia. Until this moment, this sport was not particularly interested in him. But somehow in Kazan he was invited to look at how the Zenit team is training. After going to training several times, Laurent realized that this is what he likes to do. And after six months of intensified volleyball, he was accepted into the youth team “Zenith”.
Career
Today Laurent Alekno is one of the members of the youth team Zenit. In the team, he plays as a binder, that is, helps the attacker to strike opponents. The main connecting player of Zenit is Alexander Butko, however, Laurent replaces it if there is such a need. He says that they have very friendly and close-knit relationships in the team. Despite the fact that Laurent is a beginner among a team of professionals, all players treat him as equals and share their experiences.
Father and son Alekno
The world famous coach Vladimir Alekno is the father of the young athlete Laurent. In addition, after Laurent became a member of the Zenit youth team, they are now connected not only by such relations as between father and son, but also as a coach and player. Vladimir Alekno very calmly refers to the fact that his son is in his team, he does not make him any concessions and treats the same way as with other players. An interesting fact is that on the form of the volleyball player Laurent is written not his last name, but his name. He explains this by not wanting to be glorified at the expense of his father. Laurent himself is used to achieving his goals and does not want to be discriminated against.
Vladimir Alekno himself was a famous volleyball player, he played in the position of a central blocker. He was a member of many famous Russian teams, and also played abroad. Since 1999, Vladimir became the coach of the French Tour team. Thanks to his efforts, in 2004 the Tour team won the first time in the national league. The coach of Kazan “Zenith” Vladimir Alekno became only in July 2008. Vladimir Alenko says about his son that he grew up when he started volleyball. Laurent takes all games and preparations seriously, now for him, in the first place are not studies, entertainment or girls, but volleyball training.
Future plans
Speaking about plans for the future, Laurent Alekno is determined to continue to build his career in volleyball. Many argue that his height is 191 centimeters is not enough to be a volleyball player, but Laurent does not agree with this. He says that there are a large number of successful and world-famous volleyball players, whose growth is even less than his. Thinking about plans for the future, Laurent honestly admits that he does not want to return to live in France. He says that he is ready to come there just to stay and stroll through beautiful places. However, he does not deny that he is considering options for further life abroad. He is interested in countries such as America and China. But, according to Laurent, it’s too early to think about it, now in his head, first of all, intensified training and volleyball.